Tropical storm Kalmaegi has slightly intensified as it left the northern tips of the Philippines and moved closer to Taiwan on Thursday, the Philippine weather forecast bureau reported.
The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said the center of storm Kalmaegi, locally called "Helen", was located at 260 km to the North of the Philippines' Batanes region at 10 a.m. Thursday and is moving at 17 km per hour further northwest.
The storm, packing maximum winds of 110 kph near the center, is expected to arrive at 80 kilometers east of Taiwan by Thursday night, the weather bureau said.
The storm has left one dead and 17,947 people affected by the floods it caused during its short passage through parts of the northern Philippine region of Luzon, the country's disaster relief agency said Thursday.
The weather bureau said while the storm is leaving the country, it will continue to enhance the southwest monsoon and bring rains over the western sections of Luzon. Residents in low lying areas and near mountain slopes are warned to stay vigilant against flashfloods and landslides.
Lying on the western side of the Pacific, the Philippines is almost the gateway of typhoons in the region. The weather forecast bureau predicted a total of 20 storms, typhoons to hit the country this year.
A passenger ferry with 862 people capsized when typhoon Fengshen struck the archipelago last month. Only 65 people were found alive while the others were either confirmed dead or still missing. Besides the casualties of the ill-fated ferry, the country's disaster relief agency reported another 540 deaths from all parts of the typhoon affected areas across the country.
Source:Xinhua
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